Lawn golf game



March 27, 1962 T. SAATZER 3,027,153

LAWN GOLF GAME Filed Dec. 12, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.

Lawrence 7T .Saarzer 1N VENTOR.

W -Mm March 27, 1962 L. T. SAATZER LAWN GOLF GAME 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 12, 1958 w m a S T m m w a L INVENTOR.

Unite States Patent Office 3,027,163 Patented Mar. 27, 1962 3,027,163 LAWN GULF GAME Lawrence T. Saatzer, 991 37th Ave. N, St. Cioud, Minn. Filed Dec. 12, 1958, Ser. No. 780,105 2 Claims. (Cl. 273178) The present invention generally relates to an amusement device and more particularly to a golfing game which is constructed in such a manner that the entire nine holes may be laid out in a relatively small area such as on a lawn, there being provided two Wedging clubs for use in conjunction with commercially available hollow plastic balls having a plurality of apertures therein whereby the balls are lofted into the holes substantially in the same nature as a golf ball is lofted by a wedging club.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a game device requiring considerable skill and which closely simulates a golfing game except that all clubs used are simulated wedging clubs, there being nine different simulated holes requiring that the hollow plastic apertured balls be lofted into the hole thus requiring skill in the use of the wedging club.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a lawn golf game in which the various holes or bunkers may be placed as desired and orientated to adapt the golf game to the particular lawn involved so that the course may extend around buildings, trees or other obstructions.

A further important feature of the present invention is to provide a lawn golf game which is simple in construction, easy to lay out, highly entertaining and interesting, well adapted for its particular purposes and relatively inexpensive to manufacture and maintain.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of a club which is to be used by a player;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the club of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 33 of FIGURE 2 illustrating the construction of the golf club handle or shank;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 4-4 of FIGURE 2 illustrating the cross-sectional configuration of the golf club head and also illustrating the incline of the impact face of the wedging club;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view of arrow type markers designating the direction of the next hole;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 66 of FIGURE 5 illustrating the construction thereof;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of one of the holes or bunkers with the ball disposed therein and a flag associated therewith illustrating the relationship of component parts; and

FIGURES 8-16 are plan views of the nine holes or bunkers employed in the golf game.

Referring now particularly to the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates a golf club which is employed in the present invention. There normally would be two golf clubs supplied for use by two players. Also, there would be supplied two plastic balls of hollow construction and designated by the numeral 12, nine plastic bunkers generally designated by the numeral 14 and nine markers generally designated by the numeral 16 as well as nine flags designated by the numeral 18.

FIGURES 1-4 illustrates the details of construction of the golf club 10 which includes a cylindrical wood shaft 26 having a plastic cap 22 at one end thereof and a head 24 at the other end thereof. Abutting against the head 24 is a sleeve 26. While dimensions may vary, the overall length of the club is preferably 31 inches with the shaft having a inch diameter. The cap 22 has a inch opening and may have an outside diameter of one inch and may be A; of an inch in length. The sleeve 26 is 3 /2 inches long and having an outside diameter of one inch and may be also constructed of plastic and of course having a inch opening. The head 24 is also constructed of plastic and includes a A5 inch opening extending through the cylindrical end portion 28 which is inclined in relation to the horizontal lower edge 30. The horizontal lower edge 30 has considerable lateral dimension as Well as longitudinal dimension. The face of the head 24 is inclined as indicated by the numeral 32 and the trailing face 34 is also inclined in converging relation to the surface 32 and rounded edges 36 and 38 are provided. Also, the outer end of the head 24 is rounded as indicated by the'numeral 40. The vertical height of the head may be two and one-quarter inches and the width thereof, that is the horizontal distance from the leading edge to the trailing edge may be 4 inches and the over-all length from heel to toe may be 5 and three-quarter inches. The incline of the inclined surface or face 32 is 38 in relation to a horizontal plane.

There also would be two balls 12 provided and each of the balls 12 is of hollow plastic construction provided with a series of apertures 42 therein. These balls are commercially available and are 4 inches in diameter and are manufactured by Cosom Industries, Inc. of Minneapolis, Minnesota under U.S. Patents Nos. 2,597,704 and 2,665,739 under the name of Fun Ball.

Each of the markers generally designated by the numeral 16 includes a generally rectangular member 44 which may be constructed of plastic material and which includes numerical indicia 46 designating the hole number and indicia 48 designating the number of strokes for par for that particular hole. The rectangular member 44 is provided with an aperture 50 for receiving an anchor pin 52 inserted into the ground surface 54 and having a reverse bend 56 at the upper end thereof which receives the upper edge of the rectangular member 44 when the shank of the pin 52 is inserted through the aperture and into the ground 54 as indicated in FIGURE 6 thus anchoring the markers in position. One end of the rectangular member 54 is provided with a tapered end portion 58 generally forming an arrow for designating the direction to the hole corresponding to the number designated by indicia 46.

The reference numeral 18 generally designates a plastic flag which includes a generally triangular shaped plastic member 60 having numeral indicia 62 thereon for desighating the hole number along with a pair of apertures 64 for receiving the upper end of an elongated rod 66 which is inserted into the ground surface and through an aperture in the bunker 14 thus providing a flag for each hole. The indicia may be visible from both sides and the manner in which the rod 66 is inserted through the opening 64 will retain the flag 60 in position.

Each of the bunkers 14 is of similar construction except for the particular configuration of the opening therein. Each bunker includes a generally frusto-conical shaped sheeting member 68 which may be of plastic construction and which is provided with a plurality of openings 70 for receiving the rod 66. Also indicia 72 is provided for designating the hole number and also the number of strokes for par for the particular hole. Also, each member is provided with an opening 74 at the top thereof for receiving the ball 12.

As illustrated in FIGURES 8-16, the bunkers are consecutively shown. The particular configurations of the holes 74 are clearly illustrated in these configurations and it will be noted that the number of strokes designated as par for the particular hole varies with the difficult hole having a larger number of strokes while the easier holes have a lesser number of strokes designated as par.

The shape of the number one hole as illustrated in FIGURE 8 is generally the shape of a shamrock with a four stroke par. The number two hole is generally circular in shape with a three stroke par. The number three hole illustrated in FIGURE 10 is generally kidney shaped and has a five stroke par. The number four hole designated in FIGURE 11 may be termed a cluster and has a four stroke par. The number five hole designated play, that is, total score or individual hole score. When in FIGURE 12 is gourd shaped and has a four stroke par. The number six hole illustrated in FIGURE 13 is pear shaped and has a three stroke par. The number seven hole illustrated in FIGURE 14 is heart shaped and has a four stroke par. The number eight hole illustrated in FIGURE 15 is peanut shaped and has a five stroke par. The number nine hole illustrated in FIGURE 16 is berry shaped and has a four stroke par. It is noted that the holes 70 for the rod 66 vary in their relationship to the opening and the position of the flag pins or rods may be varied for making the hole more difiicult and for successive rounds of play. The incline of the surface of the conical member 68 is also 38 in relation to the horizontal. Generally, the base of the conical member is twelve inches in diameter and the height of the bunkers generally varies dependent upon the size and shape of the hole therein.

In view of the incline of the face 32 on the club, the club will cause the ball to be lofted or raised above the surface rather than rolling along the surface. The bunkers thus are also constructed for receiving the ball by having the ball lofted directly into the opening rather than rolling up the surface which is extremely difficult. The ball 12 is extremely light in Weight and will rest on the top of the grass generally in a teed up position. This enables the raising up or lofting of the ball and the ball, of course, will not injure anyone if it accidentally strikes some one. Also, the balls may enter the holes from any direction. The game is based upon offioial rules of the game of golf but various alterations may be made in view of the necessity of playing in small locations. By making the game for only two players, a reasonable snail pace may be maintained and it has been found that it requires approximately 20 minutes to play nine holes and after having played an additional nine with the changing of the flag holes as is done in real golf, others may then play and while they have been waiting, they will be fascinated by the playing of the players. The

the bunkers are used on a lawn, various natural hazards may be employed such as hedges, foundations of buildings, bushes, flowers or other natural growth.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, sincev numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A golf bunker comprising a frusto-conical hollow member provided at the top thereof with a non-circular opening adapted to receive a lofted golf ball therein, said member also being provided at points spaced laterally from said opening with a set of apertures, and an upright rod selectively receivable in said apertures and cooperating with said non-circular opening to provide an obstacle for a lofted ball, said rod extending downwardly into the ground to mchor said frusto-conical member on the ground.

2. A golf bunker comprising a frusto-conical hollow member provided at the top thereof with an opening adapted to receive a lofted golf ball therein, said member also being provided at a point spaced laterally from said opening with an aperture, and an upright rod received in said aperture and cooperating with said opening to provide an obstacle for a lofted ball, said rod extending downwardly into the ground to anchor said frusto-conical member on the ground.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 690,996 Ransom Jan. 14, 1902 1,063,119 Clifford May 27, 1913 1,116,583 Garrison Nov. 10, 1914 1,567,323 Jordan Dec. 29, 1925 1,581,092 Brooks Apr. 13, 1926 1,600,475 Keeler Sept. 21, 1926 1,974,224 Van Der Linden Sept. 18, 1934 2,031,525 Clarke Feb. 18, 1936 2,121,270 Streich June 21, 1938 2,325,243 Gorospe July 27, 1943 2,456,322 Richardson Dec. 14, 1948 2,626,808 Abrams Jan. 27, 1953 2,784,969 Brandon Mar. 12, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 414,516 Great Britain Aug. 9, 1934 

